Life and Work by Design Blog

Some of my students say that they don’t know where to start to look for information about a possible career or great  business idea they need to learn about.  Some don’t know how to surf the internet for reliable information, and others don’t know about some great resources that are right under their noses.Well help is on the way!   I’m posting a series of articles on my website called Your Personal GPS that will explore lots of ways to find out “stuff”.  So far, there is one about all the great reference materials at the library and one about the ABC’s of finding good information on the internet.  Look for at least one more in the next week or so.  If you have a questions or challenges that you need help finding the answers to, please comment here and I’ll find places to help you.   Detective work is one of my favorite past-times!     

Are you ready for a change?   Are you thinking about retiring?   Does your wish list include a new career?     Dream of living in a foreign country?  My e-book, For Mature Audiences Only: How to Redesign Life and Work in the Second Half of Our Lives is now available.  It has lots of ideas and resources to get your creative juices going.  You can download your own copy for free by signing up for my monthly newsletter, WORKIN’ MY WAY in the box on this page.    Once you confirm your e-mail address, I’ll send a message with the link to the book.  

It’s easy to read, it’s informative and it just might change your life!  

Request your copy right now.   

Times are changing…  Even though most of us will be just fine, there are some industries and areas where folks are going to be looking for alternative work.  If you are in the job world and think you are seeing the lay-off or downsizing handwriting on the wall, don’t panic.  Take a deep breath, analyze your situation and make a plan.If you need a fresh up-to-date resume get in touch with my colleague Glenna Bailey. She does an excellent job at reasonable rates.  You can check out her website at www.thebragmethod.comTalk with your employer about continuing to use you as a sub-contractor or consultant.  They still have work that has to be done – they just need to do it differently.  You are a known entity – if you have done a good job, use that relationship to your advantage.Check out the temp agencies – these aren’t just for secretaries anymore.  There are agencies that place CPAs, accountants, lawyers, nurses, teachers and tutors, engineers, grant-writers and PR pros.  With companies looking to cut back their expenses, temp employment will rise.Go ahead and apply for a part-time job right now.  We’re in the season when retail always hires more help and even though the predictions aren’t great for this year, there are Now Hiring signs in lots of places.Want to start some sort of endeavor you’ve been dreaming about?Consider taking a course to update your skills or even starting back to school in a new field that you’ve always been interested in.Start laying the groundwork now for your new side business – make a plan, find out what you need to learn, schedule at least 30 minutes a day to work on your concept and talk to everyone you know about it.  You never know who might turn out to be a valuable ally.Check out the articles on my website and the blog entries for ideas of things you can do and where to look for information.  I just started posting a series called Your Personal GPS – How to Find Information.Talk to everyone you know - design a creative career that fits you - consider a tiny small business on the side - make a list of people who can help or mentor you - create a part-time retirement stream of income.And remember what Ernest Hemingway said,“Courage is grace under pressure.”

While browsing my bookshelf for something else this morning, I stumbled across an old favorite, The Tao of Pooh  by Benjamin Hoff.  I poured a cup of tea and sat down to scan back through the pages and found this wonderful little ditty.   Just for fun, now, sing along with Pooh in a sing-song sort of lilt:

How can you get very far,If you don’t know Who You Are?  

How can you do what you ought, If you don’t know What You’ve Got? 

And if you don’t know Which to Do of all the things in front of you,

Then what you’ll have when you are through

Is just a mess without a clue

Of all the best that can come true

If you know What and Which and Who.    

 Pooh calls this The Way of Self-Reliance.       “A Masterpiece.”   Who knew.